My Red Eye Won't Eat

[Katieasaur]

I just got a new red-eyed tree frog about 4 days ago, but he still won't eat, I've tried different sizes of crickets, mealworms, letting them go in the cage over night, feeding by hand, but he still won't eat and I don't know what to do, I don't want him to die

[John]

So it has never eaten for you? It sounds like either the frog is unwell or it does not have suitable conditions. Many red eyes (and other amphibians) go through unsuitable conditions in the pet trade, often leading to stress-related diseases. If you can get it to eat, even after providing the correct conditions, you need to find a vet asap.

[Katieasaur]

its in a nice terrarium by himself lots of hiding spot, clean water n stuff, i dunno if maybe i should force feed him to keep him alive or something i dunno

[bshmerlie]

When I first got my Red Eye he wouldn't eat for about three days. So I got a small critter keeper put a wet paper towel at the bottom, put him in it with 5 very small crickets and then placed it in his regular cage. I kept it completely dark and quiet for him and within a half hour he ate all the crickets. Remember to check your humidity with quality guages. It is very dry here in California and I have never been able to get the humidity over 55 percent consistently no matter how many times I misted each day. I then added a contained waterfall which would get it to about 60 percent. Not until I added a humidifier or fogger could I get it to stay above 70 percent consistently. Also if your house is air conditioned that dries out the air as well as keep it possibly too cool for them. I keep my house at 72 degrees at all times so I have a heat mat on the side of my tank to keep it in the high 70's for my frogs. Again make sure you have a good temp gauge. I use the digital guages now and would never go back to the dial ones. I've had "Waldo" my Red Eye for 2 years now and within the last 4 months got "Emerson" my Xanthic Red Eye and "Ralph" my Albino red eye. When I got those two they were very small and thin and I did the same thing with the critter keeper and it works. It's just a wet paper towel, crickets and the frog. You can't go wrong. Keep it completly dark and quiet for him and if he is going to eat he'll eat. Put it in a closet if your room isn't completely dark. If you're there fussing over him it may make him more worried about you being there. Waldo would not come out at all when I first got him until the room was pitch black. And then he would go back under a leaf and hide when I used a small light to watch him. Hope this helps. Also make sure you're crickets are small enough for him depending on his size and make sure you use treated water for the paper towel. Good luck and I hope he eats soon. Keep us posted.

[Katieasaur]

i just put him in a critter keeper with some super small crickets and a paper towel and covered the side of the cage in another room so theres absolutely no light getting in so ill see in the morning if hes eaten or not

[Katieasaur]

nope he still didnt eat

[andaroo]

[duplicate post]

[andaroo]

4 days is nothing! You are worrying too much, they can go without food for a month atleast so calm down your only going to stress your frog out even more so it will take even longer to settle.


These frogs stress REALLY easily so trying to hand feed and holding it will make matters much worse. You need to just leave it alone and give it time to settle in.

Please read my caresheet here:

The secrets of successfully keeping red eyed tree frogs - Reptile Forums

If you follow my advice written there your frog will settle and be healthy.